Bhubaneswar/Balasore, Aug. 31: The spectre of potato shortage is beginning to haunt Odisha as the Bengal government has once again imposed its ban on the movement of tuber outside the state.

Irregular supply of potatoes from the neighbouring state has affected stocks in markets across Odisha, while tuber traders in Bengal have threatened to go on strike against the decision of the Mamata Banerjee government. If there is no change in the present situation, as supply of potatoes from Bengal has stopped since Friday, the vegetable is likely to become scare in markets across the state.

In the retail market, the price of potatoes is hovering between Rs 22 and Rs 25 depending on its quality. It might reach the earlier ‘mark’ of Rs 30 if supplies from the neighbouring state are not ensured within three to four days.

Mrutyunjay Tripathy, a government employee and regular to Unit I Daily Market, said: “As salaried people we are really worried over the development since the last one and half months. The officials should talk with their Bengal counterparts to end the present stalemate.’’

Kalindi Jaysing, a retail vegetable vendor at Pokhariput, said: “I am selling potatoes at Rs 24-a-kilo, but if the supplies are not available after one or two days then I will sell for no less than Rs 30. The ban on supply from Bengal is going to hit the people hard.’’

President of Perishable Goods Association in Balasore Ajay Biswal told The Telegraph: “Odisha requires about 320-325 truckload of potatoes for its domestic consumption, but now only 20-25 trucks are crossing the state border for the past several days. The market is likely to be hit by the short supply.”

Sources said that near the Laxmannath tollgate on the Bengal-Odisha border, around 50 trucks were awaiting clearance from the administration in Bengal.

Last week, traders from Balasore threatened not to order potatoes from Bengal as the police were torturing the drivers while checking vehicles. The situation became so critical that traders were forced to get potato consignments from Bengal through the Jharkhand route.

Balasore civil supplies officer Birendra Sahu said: “Since last Sunday, around 200 potato trucks were coming from Bengal through the Jamsola tollgate instead of Laxmannath. But that has stopped since Friday. There will be a major problem if this situation continues.”

“We have heard that the potato traders of Bengal are holding talks with their government. The entire supply dynamics depends on its outcome,” he said.

General secretary of the Unit I Daily Market Traders’ Association, Bhubaneswar, Gayadhar Swain said: “We are selling potatoes for Rs 1,900 to Rs 2,000 a quintal to retail traders and they are selling at Rs 22 to Rs 24-a-kilo, depending on the quality. But the Bengal government’s ban may change the scenario again.’’

However, the ban on export of potatoes continues in Bengal. In a bid to reign in potato prices, the Bengal government had first imposed the ban on July 28 this year.

Then, between August 17 and 23, the Bengal government partially withdrew the ban, allowing 5,000 tonnes to be transported to Odisha and 500 tonnes to Jharkhand.

After the week-long liberty, the Bengal government imposed the ban once again and proposed to potato traders that they would have to supply 300 tonnes to the government every day at Rs 12-a-kilo, after which they would be allowed to export 700 tonnes daily to other states.

But the traders refused to accept this proposal, saying supplying 300 tonnes at Rs 12 per kg was not feasible.